Nasdaq ends at record as tech leads stock-market rally

U.S. stocks posted solid gains Monday, led by a rally in the technology and consumer discretionary sectors, as traders appeared to shrug off global trade tensions and focused on favorable economic environment instead.

What did markets do?

The Nasdaq Composite COMP, +0.69% closed at a record for the first time since March 12, rising 52.13 points, or 0.7%, to 7,606.46. It remained shy of its all-time intraday high of 7,637.27, hit on March 13.

The S&P 500 SPX, +0.45% finished up 12.25 points, or 0.5%, to 2,746.87, with seven of its 11 sectors closing higher. Technology, consumer discretionary and consumer staples sectors led the gains, up about 1%.

The Russell 2000 RUT, +0.33% also closed at a fresh all-time high, rising 5.39 points, or 0.3%, to 1,653.37.

What was driving the market?

Investors continued to cheer a round of solid U.S. jobs data released Friday, which showed the world’s largest economy in better economic health than expected. That helped spur a move back into riskier assets such as stocks, after political upheaval in Italy earlier last week sparked a flight into havens such as bonds.

The optimism over the U.S. data also helped overshadow lingering concerns over global trade on Monday. A round of trade talks between the U.S. and China broke down over the weekend with no agreement, indicating a full-on trade war between the world’s two largest economies could be imminent.

Meanwhile, finance ministers from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the U.K. issued a rare rebuke to the U.S. at a G-7 meeting on Saturday, expressing their “unanimous concern and disappointment” about President Donald Trump’s decision to place tariffs on metals